


Low

by sunaddicted



Series: Tumblr Prompts 2019 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Brotherly Bonding, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, References to Depression, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 17:52:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17248742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: Losing Bruce.Becoming Batman.





	Low

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of days ago, an anon asked me for Damian worrying over Dick - I hope you like it.

_Low_

There was a weight on Grayson’s shoulders, an invisible shadow perched on him that fluctuated behind his back at every step like the cape of the Batsuit - a spectre that Damian hadn’t noticed until he had walked in on the other boy, crumpled under the hot spray of the shower and crying with his face smashed against the slippery tiles.

Nothing had happened during patrol to explain that display of resigned anguish, Damian didn’t understand what had been causing so much distress; he just knew that when he saw Grayson upstairs, the other looked remarkably… fine.

He knew better, though.

Almost absentmindedly, Damian started keeping an eye on Grayson: he started to notice a pattern, a routinary breaking down that happened only when Dick didn’t think anyone else was watching - when he thought he was hidden from prying eyes and judging minds.

Because if there was something that Bruce had taught him, it was that Batman never let himself be seen as weak by enemies and friends alike: he always was strong, a spine stapled with steel in order to keep the city and his family from falling apart; Dick had taken his place, now that Bruce was gone, and he felt like Robin trying on the Batsuit.

Small.

Ridiculous.

Inadequate.

Bruce’s shoes were too big to fill and the Batman’s identity was slowly choking him, forcing him to be someone he wasn’t - someone he had never wanted to be: that was why he had left.

Why he had become Nightwing.

And now, not only he had to protect Gotham - that city he loved and hated, that he had escaped but couldn’t help being attracted to - but he also had to take care of a Robin.

More than that, of Bruce’s son: amazing and complicated and so sensitive, no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind his scowls and harsh words; a boy who had endured far more than he should have ever had, whose own mother had failed to protect and nurture him; a soul so gentle that he couldn’t even stand the idea of leaving a stray on Gotham’s dangerous streets.

“Do I have something on my face, little D?”

Damian ignored the stupid moniker “You haven’t shaved”

“It’s Sunday”

“That usually isn’t a significant factor”

Dick frowned and thrust a spoonful of cereal in his mouth, taking his time to think about something to say “Uh.. is there something you’re trying to tell me?”

“You’re tired”

“I guess?” Blüdhaven wasn’t Gotham and Dick supposed that maybe he had lost a bit of his Boy Wonder shine “I haven’t been sleeping much”

“Crying in the shower once we come back from patrol certainly doesn’t help”

“I..”

“Are you okay?”

“ _What_?”

Damian pursed his lips and looked down at his breakfast, skin prickling at the thought that Grayson might be thinking he was joking - that he wasn’t taking him seriously “I’ve seen you cry after patrol almost every night” he swallowed down the lump in his throat that he hadn’t even realised had gotten lodged in his esophagus “I’m… concerned”

“Oh, Damian..” Dick’s heart squeezed in his chest: he was supposed to be better than that; Bruce would have never allowed any of them to worry about him, he’d locked himself up behind a thick concrete wall in order to protect them all from what went down in the depths of his soul.

To protect them from his pain.

He had failed once again.

Dick let the spoon fall back into the bowl, suddenly not much more interested in the cereal getting steadily soggier “You don’t need to worry about me, I’m just…” he bit down on his lower lip “This is a lot to get used to”

Losing Bruce.

Becoming Batman.

“I understand”

“Do you?”

Damian’s life had changed more than he could have ever imagined in the matter of a few months “Yes, I do” he probably was one of the few people orbiting around Wayne Manor that could understand him “I’m here, if you need me” the words tumbled rashly down his tongue as Damian scooped up his plate.

Dick watched him scuttle away.

How he wished Bruce was there to witness his son growing up.

**Author's Note:**

> Kicking off 2019 with angst, you're welcome


End file.
